Candles
by Elemarth
Summary: Seven Jedi escape from the Temple massacre and struggle in a new, unfriendly galaxy.
1. Chapter 1

_**Candles**_

***

- - -

***

_You can blow out the candles,_

_But you can't blow out the fire._

_Once the flames begin to catch,_

_The wind will blow them higher._

- Peter Gabriel

***

_Nightfall_

The Jedi sat in silence in the old starship. The thoughts they carried were too heavy to express in words. Nothing stood in front of them except dark silence.

They were survivors. They had barely gotten out of the Jedi Temple before being murdered by the clones or Sith lord that had attacked their home. Exactly the scale of the attack they had survived was yet unknown to them, but they knew that the Jedi Temple was no more.

The image of the troops of clones was clear in each mind, the feeling of souls joining the Force still more vivid. The Jedi were dying, and, with them, the galaxy. There was nothing to hold onto in the dark world.

Outside the windows of the spaceship was endless darkness with a few, almost invisible stars. They had come out of hyperspace once they were away from the Coruscanti system. They didn't need it anymore. They didn't need anything anymore, just the deep blackness of space that stars did nothing to light.

Seven Jedi and one droid sat in the ship. They could just as well have been the only beings left in the galaxy. There was nothing for them to believe in.

**

* * *

A/N: I promised another Star Wars story. Here it is. Ignore what was on my profile for the last few days.**

**This story will be much shorter than I had originally planned**** (in the range of eight chapters) because I have other things I want to work on.**** Ah, well. I do get in over my head, so it will probably be better this way.  
**

**The lyrics at the beginning refer to the death of one of the leaders in the fight against apartheid, but it could work for pretty much any rebel movement.**

**I may not have time to answer reviews for almost two weeks, but I will read them!**


	2. Part 1, Chapter 1

**_Part 1: Jedi of the Galaxy_**

***

_Chapter 1_

Jián Kaari stood abruptly. "All right, everyone on your feet."

Two of the Jedi, out of habit, stood at her commanding tone. The other four just turned their faces listlessly towards her.

"I mean it. Get up," she commanded. "All of you. You aren't hurt, are you? Your legs work all right, don't they? _Stand_."

They slowly pulled themselves to their feet. Their eyes showed no life.

Jián took a deep breath. She was a green-skinned Twi'lek Jedi Master. She had been training a padawan. She had just seen him die.

"Listen to me," she ordered. "We just saw something…" There were no words for that. "We just – saw something terrible. We just survived something terrible. But we – you _must_ listen to me – we are alive. While we are alive, we can – we can do something. We're alive. And we're Jedi. We aren't going to throw away what the Force has granted us. We can't just – just sit here and – and – just do nothing. We're Jedi."

The looked at her. She could tell they were seeing nothing.

"We have to find out what has happened and whether there are any other Jedi out there. Then, we need to find out what has happened to the Senate and the senators who would stand with the Jedi. We have to survive and we have to bring light back into the galaxy."

She looked around at the uncomprehending faces. "I'm a terrible liar and always have been, so I won't say that this is possible. I will say that we need to _try_. Sitting in a starship as we have been doing for who _knows_ how long will do us no good." She shut her eyes for a moment to hide the blank faces. "We're Jedi. We're here to help the galaxy. We aren't going to abandon it in its darkest hour."

Her eyes flew open and she looked at her six shipmates. "Blast you, can't _any_ of you _talk_?" she growled in frustration.

"You're right," said a teenage human boy. "You _are_ a terrible liar."

"I haven't lied to you," Jián snapped.

"Yes, you have. You said we can do something."

She glared at him. He withered. This was one thing that she had always been good at.

"Does anyone have anything intelligent to say?" she demanded.

A whimper answered her. She looked down and saw that the youngest member of their group was holding back tears. He was a nine-year-old Togruta boy. She knelt in front of him. "We're going to take care of you, sweet," she whispered.

He rubbed his eyes purposefully and nodded.

Jián stood up. "It's time to take inventory. I don't know you all, but am I right in saying that I am the only master here?"

The two other adults nodded.

"All right, then. My name is Jián Kaari and, for now at least, I'm in charge here. You, droid, what are you called?"

It was a red astromech droid. It beeped out, _R7-H3_.

She nodded. "Fine. What ship are we on? Does it have a name?"

It did, indeed. It was the _Candle_ and was a long-distance ship, meaning that it could be lived in for short periods. It was old, however, which meant it wasn't necessarily reliable, and it was stocked with only enough supplies to last the seven of them only about five standard days.

"All right, so we have a ship. We have some food and some medical supplies. We have an R7 droid. We have one Jedi Master. We have, I believe, two Jedi Knights? Names, please?"

One was a young female human named Arishe Saimi. She had short, black hair and pained dark brown eyes. She, too, had lost a padawan, her first.

The other was a slightly older male Zabrak named Renhu Tam. He had dark red skin and only stubs of horns. He had little to say to Jián.

There were three former padawans. The oldest was a light-haired human boy. He and Renhu had stood immediately when Jián had first spoken. His name was Adan Hanijki, and he had been a padawan for six years. He had been at the Temple because his master had been killed in the war.

The second was the one who had called Jián a liar, Kanis Skrit. He had somewhat dark skin, rich brown hair, and a very angry expression. He was only fourteen and had just witnessed he death of his master, so Jián could hardly blame him.

The youngest was a female Miraluka who Kanis said was called Vinka Sirini. The Miraluka were a race similar to humans except that they had lost their vision. They had white eyes with no pupil and used the Force to find their way around. Like most Miraluka, Vinka wore what would be, for humans, a blindfold to hide her white eyes. She didn't say anything herself.

The little Togruta was named Irik Li. Jián had seen Arishe leading a few younglings into the hanger, but with the clones shooting at them, Irik somehow became the only one to make it onto the ship. He had a lightsaber but had never had a master. He was simply too young. Jián felt like crying just looking at him.

None of them had eaten since well before they had left the Temple, which had been at least half a standard day before. Jián gave each of them a little food and some water. There were two very small bedrooms on the ship with four bunks each, and Jián sent the children to one of them.

Arishe and Renhu sat back down as soon as the children were gone and stared listlessly at the wall. Jián squeezed her eyes shut. _Well, if they aren't going to help, I guess I'll have to do this on my own._

With the help of R7-H3, she got the ship's long-distance comlink to work and accessed the Temple. Instead of a person, she got a message in the Jedi's code. It told the Jedi that they were not, under any circumstances, to return to the Temple. Her eyes tingled as tears began to form. Her apprentice was not likely to get a proper funeral. And all the younglings! What had happened to them? The clones had no trouble with killing younglings, as she had seen during the fight to escape from the hanger.

She called one of her friends that had been away from the Temple. The comlink would not connect. She called another. A clone trooper answered. Her memory of the clones in the Temple and an instinct told her to terminate the connection immediately.

She was at a loss. The Jedi were too spread out. She didn't know who else she could call.

"This is where one of you comes in," she said to the other two adults. "Who do you know? Who can you send a message to?"

Renhu shrugged. Arishe pulled herself up and leaned over the comm. She tapped in some numbers. They got another clone in response. He demanded to know who they were. Jián leaned over and cut off the connection. "I don't think we can trust clones at this point," she explained.

They tried a few more Jedi. Only clones answered. Jián couldn't help feeling suspicious of the situation.

Finally, Jián thought to try the holonet's news programs. What she heard made her sick.

The Jedi, according to them, had rebelled. Mace Windu had tried to assassinate the Chancellor. Only he wasn't the Chancellor anymore. He was the Emperor.

He was also, Jián could guess, Darth Sidious.

Anyone recognized as a Jedi was to be reported.

There was no Republic left.

***

Jián couldn't tell if Vinka and Arishe were asleep, meditating, or simply silent and unmoving, so she cried without sound.

There was nothing for them to do, so they ended up in bed. To eliminate any argument, Jián separated them into bedrooms by gender. It wouldn't have mattered, though. They wore their working clothes to sleep by habit, and they didn't have anything to change into, anyhow.

_Merrek. My padawan._ She held down a sob. _I'm so sorry I left you, but I could not leave with you. Merrek…_

He had been an intelligent and obedient Human boy. She had taken him when he was twelve. He had been sixteen the day he died. They had gotten through the wars together. They had survived all sorts of dangerous situations. But at the Temple, the safe place, the haven, they had been separated forever.

Jián would never forget the sight of him being shot down by the clones as the group of Jedi who had gathered in the hanger tried to get to a ship. Shot down with Kanis' master and most of the younglings that Arishe had brought. Jián wondered if Arishe's padawan had been one of those unfortunate ones or if she had died earlier. And what about Vinka's master? Where had she gone? What about Cin Drallig? What about Shaak Ti? How had they died, or had they escaped? Was Yoda alive? Was Anakin Skywalker? She knew that Mace Windu could not be. How had Darth Sidious managed to kill him? He was supposed to be the best lightsaber user alive. How had Darth Sidious hidden as the Chancellor right in front of their eyes? How could they have been so blind?

Jián curled up in her bunk and allowed her broken heart to leak out through the tears in her eyes.

_What if nobody else survived?_

That couldn't be, she knew. They had probably been the only ones to get away from the Temple, but the Jedi were spread across a hundred star systems. Surely some had escaped from the murderous clones.

But they had to find those others.

Jián rolled out of her bed, which was a top bunk, and landed upright on the floor. They weren't going to get anywhere just lying there. They had to find a place to go, and they had to jump to hyperspace and _go_ there.

They had a fallen republic to serve, after all.


	3. Chapter 2

**Thanks to reka1207 and TheMacUnleashed for reviewing!  
**

**I would like to point out that everything so far except the characters is canon. Miraluka are canon. Myrkr also is. According to Wookieepedia, not much happened there between 300 BBY and 9 ABY, which probably leaves me as safe.**

***

_Chapter 2_

"What the ---- did you just do?" shouted Kanis from one of the bunkrooms. The older Jedi ran out to the main room. Irik stumbled behind, yawning. The jump to hyperspace had interrupted their sleep.

Jián stood with her feet shoulder-width apart and a fierce expression on her face. "We're going to Myrkr."

"Are you _crazy?_" Kanis demanded.

"My impression is that you can't be crazy and pass your trials, let alone become a master," Jián snapped back. "But, otherwise, yes, quite possibly. We all are. We can't not be after what happened. But we _are_ going.

"Why?" asked Renhu.

"We'll need more food and some clothes, so we have to go _somewhere_. We're fugitives, so we'll fit right in there. It's full of fugitives."

"It's full of fugitives because Jedi don't _go_ there!" Kanis argued.

Jián bared her teeth. "Precisely. It's perfect."

"But the ysalamiri!"

Jián shrugged. "We avoid them? They live on trees, not in cities, and they can't be taken from their tree alive."

"But we could accidentally – or don't they create a big region of –" Arishe said. "He's right. It's too dangerous."

"Well, we'll have to watch out for – where _is_ Vinka?" Jián realized that the Miraluka had not come out of the bunkroom. Jián stuck her head in there. The girl seemed to be sleeping.

"She woke up when we jumped," Arishe told Jián.

"I'll leave her for now. I don't have enough energy to talk to her," Jián whispered to the knight. Returning to the others, she spoke aloud. "It'll be fine, if we don't land in a city that's affected by them and we're careful and don't try to use the Force too much there."

"Insane," Renhu grumbled.

"Too late. We're going."

"We can't float forever," Adan admitted. "We might as well be dead as we are. We need to choose one or the other – life or death – not this half-life."

Arishe nodded in agreement. Renhu also nodded after an uncomfortable pause. Irik looked up at Jián with wide, admiring eyes. Kanis scowled.

"All right. How much money do we have?"

None of them had much. They weren't given a lot of money even for missions, and they carried even less around during normal times. Kanis and Irik didn't have any at all.

"We need water," Jián decided. That went quickly on a ship that was lived in. "We also need a second set of clothes. How much fuel do we have?" she asked R7-H3.

It was enough. "Clothes first, then as much water as we can afford or can fill the tanks. More food if we have anything left over."

"Then what?" Arishe asked.

"Then… we find a way to make money."

"How?" asked Adan.

"Does anybody know how to play Sabaac?"

They all stared at her.

She attempted a smile. "We're Jedi. We can find a way."

"Yeah, right," Kanis muttered.

***

_Guess what, Merrek? After all those times you said that I was going crazy, I've actually done it! I'm going to Myrkr, and I'm taking six other Jedi with me! Can you believe it? Imagine what would happen if we _did_ land in a city that was affected by ysalamiri. We'd all die of fear!_

There was a reason why Jedi didn't go to Myrkr, which had led to the planet's distinction as a haven for smugglers and fugitives. That reason was called ysalamiri. Ysalamiri were furry lizards that had the ability to neutralize the Force around them, essentially creating a bubble in which it would be impossible to use the Force. When they gathered together, the field of neutral-Force could stretch over a huge area – enough to cover a city.

_It would be dangerous to use the Force, anyway. It's just Vinka that I'm worried about. She needs the Force to see. Actually, I don't think she can leave the ship in Myrkr at all. Anyone who realizes she is a Miraluka will know that there's something weird about her being there._

Jián decided to check on the girl again. Arishe, Renhu, and Adan were in the control room with her, but Kanis was hidden in the males' room with Irik, who was sleeping, and Vinka still hadn't come out.

The Miraluka was lying on a top bunk. Jián could see that she was breathing, but otherwise, she wasn't moving. She couldn't even tell if the girl was awake or asleep.

"Vinka?" she whispered. She said aloud, "Vinka, wake up, please."

There was no response.

"Vinka! I need to talk to you. Wake up!"

The girl still didn't move. Jián shook her gently. Finally, a hand lifted and pushed her arm away.

"We need supplies. We're going to Myrkr. We'll make sure to be careful, okay?"

The hand reached farther out and met Jián's collarbone. She didn't push hard, but the purpose was clear.

"If you'd say something so I knew you understood I'd go away."

The pressure against Jián increased. She finally took the hint. "Okay. I'll be back later, though."

The hand returned to the body, and the girl turned over so her face was to the wall.

Jián didn't have anything to tell her.

_Oh, Merrek, what am I going to do?_

***

_The older younglings were having a lightsaber tournament. Knights and masters who wanted a padawan often watched things like this to see if any youngling caught their eye. There was nothing interesting in the first or second round. Initiates won with lightsaber maneuvers, trickery, or brute force. Jián doubted that watching this would help her any in her search. All the initiates seemed alike._

_The first two battles of the third round were the same, but something changed in the third. Two Humans, a boy and a girl, were dueling. The girl, Jián had noticed, was a bit arrogant and relied on her Force abilities. The boy had won his battles by lightsaber prowess, but he seemed a bit slow._

_The girl had noticed this, as well. "What are you, a sandcrawler? I can't believe you've gotten this far. A _four-year-old_ could move faster than _you._" She continued to taunt him as they circled each other, parrying, waiting for a mistake._

_The boy never responded. The girl became irritated. Her taunts became more personal, more cruel. Finally, the boy looked her in the eyes and said, "You have no idea what you are talking about."_

_And he disarmed her with one lightning stroke._

_Jián could never define what had attracted her to him. He had pretended to be slow for two-and-a-half battles. He had not risen to bait. And something about his statement – the pure confidence of it – had impressed her._

"_Who is that one?" she asked the teacher after the tournament was over. The boy had been beaten in the fourth round._

"_Merrek Razati."_

_Jián had asked him that day._

***

Padawans. Jián had trained two before Merrek. Her first had died in the Battle of Geonosis with so many friends, classmates, acquaintances, and teachers. With everyone. With – Jián saw it through the bitterness of too much loss and shock at once – the Jedi Order. Her second padawan probably was dead, too. He had been offplanet. Jián thought of all those clones. And Merrek, a teenaged boy, had joined them.

There was more to think about, though. There were three padawans and a youngling on the ship, and Jián was the only master. She had to do something about them.

She wasn't ready to think about that yet. Not about training. But she could handle Adan's situation, she thought.

"What happened to your master, Adan?" Jián asked, turning her head towards the young man in an image of innocent curiosity.

Adan shrugged. "He – we were trying to run a blockade. I mean, the government of a planet had cut off _one_ city, but they'd done it well. Air, land, space – all cut off. The people were starving, and someone had to do something about it. The Confederacy wasn't going to step in. It was the planet's right to punish a city – you know how they are. They were helping, actually. Someone had been bribed. So we were supposed to go in and bring supplies and do what we could. My master's ship was shot down." He looked down. "And I had to turn back, so there wasn't even any point in his death. I don't know how many more people died because of it. I try not to think about that."

Jián nodded. Arishe winced. "So you're a good pilot," Renhu commented.

"I'm not too bad, but not great. Not like Anakin Skywalker or somebody."

"I wonder what happened to him," Jián murmured. "I hope he and Obi-Wan Kenobi lived. They could save us all."

Renhu snorted and turned away.

"What?"

The Zabrak shook his head. Jián knew that many people didn't like Skywalker's arrogance, but he was a hero and one of the only Jedi that the public held in esteem anymore.

This probably wasn't a good subject, so Jián changed it. "What were the Masters going to do with you?"

"They were deciding. They weren't sure if I was ready for my trials yet." His face, which had showed only mild sorrow before, fell. "I don't know what'll happen now."

"What do you think should happen?"

"Is this a test?" His gray eyes searched Jián's face.

"It might be."

"I think you have the right idea. Figure out how to live, then find the other Jedi, then find some way to fix things. I don't know what should be done about _me_. It doesn't really seem like the galaxy's going to care one way or the other right now. I just like the way you're treating me right now. Like I know what I'm doing, even though I'm only eighteen."

"I'm only twenty-three," Arishe pointed out. "Five years isn't so much."

"Twenty-seven," Renhu offered.

"I _do_ feel old," Jián said. And that was terribly wrong. She was still so young and inexperienced compared to the group that most Jedi had referred to as the Masters for centuries. But Kenobi was younger than she was, and he was – or had been – on the Council. Things were changing. "Thirty-six."

"Ancient," Adan agreed with a weak smile. "It's awful, isn't it?"

That was enough for Jián. If he could joke about something in a time like this – and then recognize how terrible it was – he had what was needed. She stood up.

"Okay. I have no authority to do this, but I _am_ the only master on this ship, and until the Council regains charge of the Jedi, I am the only person who can act on this situation. Stand."

His face full of apprehension, Adan stood to face her. Renhu followed, then, slowly, Arishe. Jián flicked her lightsaber onto its lowest setting and ignited it. Renhu, then Arishe, did the same.

Jián licked her lips. She was miserable, dirty, and, if the Force had any sense, she would have been bloodstained, too. She was standing in an old ship with two knights and an astromech droid for witnesses. This was not the right place. She had never been on the Council. She had no right. And she had the strong feeling that it had become wrong to use a lightsaber carelessly, use it for anything but fighting. _Everything_ was wrong.

"By my right as the only master available, and by the will of the Force, I name you, Adan…"

"Hanijki."

"Adan Hanijki Jedi Knight."

"Of the Republic," Arishe whispered.

"Of the… Of the Galaxy." Jián swept her lightsaber close to Adan's face, and his sandy padawan braid fell to the ground. He had blinked, but barely flinched, she noticed approvingly.

The blades disappeared. "If I ever have to do it again, I'll prepare for it first," Jián grumbled. "You! Droid. Are there any scissors around here?"

"You did fine," Adan said.

"You say that because you've never seen the real ceremony." _And might never._

"I liked that – Jedi of the Galaxy."

Jián shrugged, took the scissors from R7-H3, and trimmed Adan's burned hair. Arishe sat again.

"No, really. I think it was good."

Jián shrugged again and put her lightsaber away.

***

"_We're really going on a mission?" Merrek asked. "Really?"_

"_Do I ever tell you something that isn't true?"_

"_Not yet."_

"_I won't. Ever. We're going on a mission."_

_He was silent for a moment, contemplating the idea. "What's it like?"_

"_What?"_

"_The galaxy – outside of the Temple."_

"_That depends on where you are. How rich the people are."_

"_Why do people need to be rich?"_

"_They need money to buy food and clothes and everything else. If they don't have it… You've had history class."_

"You_ don't have money."_

"_I have the Jedi. We pay for everything together."_

_He nodded, satisfied. "I'm glad I'm a Jedi. I can't imagine what life would be like if I wasn't."_

"_Neither can I," Jián murmured._

But she suddenly had to.

***

"Has it occurred to you that we have _no_ way of making money?" Renhu asked. "We've learned the Jedi skills, but unless we can convince someone to give us a hundred credits, what good will that do us? It's not as if we can admit to being Jedi."

"We can bet. The Force can tell us what to bet on. We can cheat on gambling games using the Force."

"You can't be serious."

"We can protect someone."

"With _what_? Our lightsabers?"

"Our bodies. We don't need lightsabers to fight."

"And _that_ won't be a giveaway?" Adan asked. "How many people really know martial arts?"

"Enough. Do any of you know a language besides Basic?"

Adan and Arishe shook their heads. "I know enough Rodian to keep me from being shot," Renhu offered.

"Translate. Is anyone good at fixing things?"

Arishe shook her head. "Hopeless."

"Not better than the mechanics that would be in a city," Adan pointed out.

"True. Fortune telling?"

"Oh, please," Arishe sighed. "You expect _anyone_ to _not_ connect us with Jedi if we try that?"

"One or two people, I'm sure."

"_What_?" The three other Jedi stared at Jián. "Then why did you suggest it?" Arishe asked.

Jián shrugged. "We're able to do it."

"When that boy asked it, I thought he was being mean, but now I think you might really _be _insane." Arishe said. "Sorry."

"That's all right. We all are." Jián knew that, as she became more frightened, the brave face she put on became stranger and stranger to onlookers. Her apprentices had commented on it time after time. They had probably thought that their master _had_ been insane at times. "There's some way. I know it. We'll have to act as underworld operatives, but it'll be good practice for the rest of life."

"The Jedi are not all gone," Renhu stated. "We will overcome this. The Jedi can't be destroyed."

"I'm sure they're not all gone," Jián agreed. "And we'll do our best. And see." She turned to the droid. "Are _you _good at anything?"

His answer was similar to Adan's response to the idea of being mechanics: no better than anyone else. He was probably right.

Jián's breath caught in a split second of anticipation, and then a scream tore through the ship.

***

**A cliffhanger? I'm becoming one of those evil authors that ends chapters on a cliffhanger?**


	4. Chapter 3

_Thanks to everyone who read and especially to TheMacUnleashed, pronker, G-Anakin13, and Torli for reviewing. Yes, of course, I don't think the cliffhanger was hard to figure out._

***

_Chapter 3_

***

"Vinka!" Arishe shouted, but the Twi'lek was already halfway to the bunkroom.

"Stay!" she called to the adults.

Vinka was half-curled up on the floor and still screaming. She might have – probably had – fallen from the top bunk, but she didn't look hurt. Jián's hands automatically began to feel for injuries.

"Breathe in," Jián ordered. Vinka kept screaming. Her lungpower was amazing. Her blindfold had been thrown to the side, and her white eyes were open wide. "_Breath in_," Jián repeated, adding commanding strength to her words through the Force.

The girl pulled air into her lungs with a painfully choked-sounding gasp.

"Good." Jián struggled to uncurl Vinka, but she was immobile.

This time, the Miraluka girl's voice rose into a screaming protest. "I can't _see_!"

Those were the first words Jián had heard from her, and the scream was the first sound she had made since she had come onto the ship.

"I can't see! I _can't see_!"

"Sh-h-h-h-h," Jián whispered. She noticed Arishe at the door and glared at the other woman, who obediently left. "Sh-h-h. I'll take care of you."

"I c-can't – can't –"

"I know." Most people would ask why a Miraluka would be complaining about not being able to see, but Jián was sure she knew the answer to that. Miraluka _could_ see, just not in the "normal" way. They needed the Force. "I know what it's like. You need to try to calm yourself. You won't be able to use the Force when you're so frightened."

Vinka's scream rose again. There was so much pain and fear and anger behind that sound that Jián wanted to join it. It spoke for everything she felt.

But Jián was a Jedi Master, and even in such anguish as she felt, she knew how to keep control of herself. "Vinka," she said quietly. "Breathe."

Vinka gasped, then sobbed. "I – I c-can't –"

"Keep breathing." Jián uncurled the girl's body, stretched her out on her back. "Sh-h-h. I'm going to make sure everything – I'm going to do my best. There's a lot we can do to make everything turn out all right. I _promise_ I'll do my best. I'm going to take care of you. I promise."

Vinka's anguish didn't ease. Each sob sounded like it was being torn out of her body by force, like she was dying. Jián could only lift her up and hold her. "I know. I know."

"I w-want them back."

"I know."

"I want them _alive_."

"I know."

"Why did it happen?"

"I don't know that."

Another agony-filled sob. "Please. I want them back."

"I can't do that for you. I can only – I can only give you what we have here."

"I want them…" A weak scream rose from the girl's throat. "_Please._"

"I'm not omnipotent. I can't bring someone back to life. I can't. I can't stop this. All any of us can do is work with what we _have_."

Jián held Vinka as the girl cried and struggled against the truth, against what had happened and could not be undone. Jián sat and pretended that she did not feel the same way, that nothing had died within her with Merrek and all the other Jedi who hadn't been as lucky as she had.

Finally, Vinka's sobs quieted, and Jián carried her to the 'fresher to wash her face. Jián tied the Miraluka's blindfold for her and led her out to the main room. Everyone was sitting, waiting for them. Arishe held Irik.

"It's about time she came out," Kanis grumbled. "Come _on_, Vinka. Pull yourself together."

"Oh, and _you_ aren't upset at all about what happened, are you?" Jián snapped. "Show some respect."

"Why do you think I have to listen to you? Who gave you the right to tell us all what to do?" he challenged.

Jián glared at him. "I am a master. You are a padawan."

"Well, what about those two?" Kanis asked, turning to look at Renhu and Arishe. "They're adults. They can make their own choices. Do they have to do everything you say, too?"

"Enough," Renhu growled. "She has the right to be the leader."

_Leader,_ Jián thought. _I'm no leader. Not really. I've never led anyone but my apprentice. I'm just another Jedi master… I just happen to be able to take control. I just happened to be dropped into this… I'd have no idea how to be a leader._

And a terrifying thought came to her. If she really ended up being the oldest Jedi left – or even one of the oldest – she would have to help restart the Order.

"Now what, O Great Leader?" Kanis asked.

"Shut –" Jián stopped herself, suddenly conscious of Irik, nine years old but still impressionable. "Just don't say anything if you can't come up with something intelligent."

She crossed her arms and gave Kanis a stern look. He backed down first.

"All right. This ship has its first rule. We will respect one another. This includes showing the respect that is due to a higher rank. It also includes not ridiculing each other. All right?"

Everyone but Vinka nodded, though Kanis did it grudgingly. Vinka continued to stare at the floor.

"All right. We've given Adan the temporary rank of knight. It isn't official, of course, but he is considered a knight while he is on this ship, understood?" She gave Kanis a stern look. "I don't think we have to use titles – that just gets in the way – but you should treat him as you would treat Arishe or Renhu or I – and _obey_ him. And we have something else that needs taking care of. Adan lost his padawan braid by becoming a knight. We can't have anyone wearing padawan braids in Myrkr or any place until all this is worked out."

"No," said Vinka in a small voice, impulsively grabbing her black braid.

"My dear, do you really want that when it might get you killed? Only Jedi wear their hair like that – only Jedi padawans."

"I want it. Master braided it last."

"You can keep the hair, but you're not going to keep it on your head. I'll tie something around the top before I cut it, so you can keep the braid, all right?"

She whimpered.

"You'd lose it anyway. It gets cut off before you get a new master," Kanis reminded her.

Vinka's whimper rose in volume.

"Kanis," Jián and Renhu said at the same time.

"Kanis _what_?" the boy asked.

"How about you just keep your mouth shut?" Jián suggested.

Kanis immediately shut his mouth and began to say something through closed lips.

"Kanis!" Renhu snapped.

"Take my braid," he said. "I'd rather live."

"Scissors?" Jián asked R7-H3. She grabbed the boy's thin braid and pulled him towards her. "You. Shut. Up," she whispered in his ear.

"Ouch," he said emotionlessly.

He didn't make a sound as she cut off his braid and threw the hair away. He was mercifully quiet as she approached Vinka. She put a hair tie around the braid close to the quietly sobbing girl's head and cut just above it. She handed the short braid to the girl. Her hair was too long to hide that a chunk had been cut out, but she cut a few hairs around the area to make it less noticeable.

"All right," Jián said again, handing the scissors back to the droid. "That's better."

The words were so hollow. Vinka was still crying and clutching her braid as a reminder of her dead master. Jián wanted to scream.

Instead, she sat on the floor, since all the chairs were taken. She sighed deeply. "How long until we get to Myrkr?"

It was a few hours more. She rubbed her eyes. Vinka sat next to her.

"Master?" Irik asked.

Jián looked up. She hadn't realized how little he had spoken so far – almost not at all. "Just call me Jián."

"Jián, what's a candle?"

Jián's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Uh – a candle."

"The ship is called the Candle." He crawled off Arishe's lap onto Jián's.

"Yes. A candle." She put one arm around Irik and the other around Vinka's shoulders. "Well, it's – how do I describe this? It's a stick of wax, okay? Wax is – wax. It melts in heat. Candles are wax with a string through the middle – that's the wick. The wick sticks out the top of the wax a bit. You hold fire to that, and the wick starts burning. It melts the wax around it, so more and more of the wick is exposed, okay? And more and more of it burns until all the wax is melted and all the wick is burned."

"What are they for?"

_Why do younglings have to have so many questions? _"Well, they used to be a kind of portable light, way before we had electricity. Thousands and thousands of years ago, we had to get heat and light from fire. Candles were portable fire. Now, they're still used in some very poor or out-of-the-way places for light, but they're mostly used symbolically. Some people use them in ceremonies. They're actually used in the Temple sometimes. And they're in art and stuff to represent things – bringing light to the darkness, or appreciating the past, or usually for a life. You know – just one life, one candle, carrying just a tiny bit of the fire. And they get to the end of the wick eventually – and they're so easy to blow out before they get there."

Everyone was silent, waiting for more, but she didn't have any more to give.

"I don't know why the ship was named that. It fits a person better than a machine."

"We're candles," Irik said. "Right? We're lights in the darkness. We're one life each."

"Yeah, we're candles." Jián said, staring at nothing. "Yeah."


	5. Chapter 4

_Thanks to pronker, TheMacUnleashed, and RiverOtter1 for reviewing!_

***

_I was talking to Torli after the last chapter, and she thought that Vinka couldn't see because the ysalamiri were affecting her. To clarify, it was her emotional turmoil and fear that blocked the Force._

_Torli then pointed out that this would be very bad for Miraluka survival – a child could fail to notice a predator because he/she was lost and frightened. It is a very good point. I have two arguments why I didn't do something entirely stupid._

_1. This is misery and fear beyond what is normal. I mean, she has or is going to have posttraumatic stress disorder, at _least_._

_2. It's thought that Miraluka had workable eyes not too long ago, evolutionarily speaking. Maybe the Force sensitivity has had time to evolve but they still can lose their ability to use it when they're really scared or upset, and natural selection hasn't taken care of that yet._

***

_Chapter 4_

***

"We can't all leave the ship at once," Jián commented as they neared the coordinates where they would have to leave hyperspace. "We're too diverse. Most people don't travel in groups this size, especially not with multiple other species. And definitely not with younglings of other species. But I think Irik and Vinka should stay in, anyway. The planet isn't safe for people who rely on the Force, and I think Irik is a bit too young." She squeezed the Togruta boy's shoulders. "And someone needs to stay with them."

"I'll stay," said Arishe said dully.

"That sounds a bit better," Jián said.

"You need to stay in the ship," Renhu told Jián. She widened her eyes, raising her imaginary eyebrows. "I'm sorry, but female Twi'lek just don't dress like that."

Jián slid Irik off her lap and stood, aiming her best glare and end-of-discussion tone at the Zabrak. "I do."

"I know, but it's unusual. It's bad enough that we're all dressed like Jedi, but at least other people wear clothes like this. Female Twi'lek don't."

"That's why they're galaxy-wide sex symbols! I'm a real person, and I am _not_ dressing like a – whatever you want to call it! I won't have the galaxy looking at me like that!"

"Jián," said Renhu calmly.

"_You_ try having everyone expect you – want you – to be an attractive body without a mind! Even some _Jedi_ look like they – they –" She thought about the younglings, snarled in frustration, and stormed to a bedroom. She shouted out to Renhu, "Bet you're disappointed you don't get to see me half-naked!"

The door closed, and Jián paced around the tiny room, spitting words she wouldn't have said in Irik's presence.

She knew very well what was expected of Twi'lek women. She had known since she was eleven. She thought that the masters who made it onto the Council must have all been model younglings, because they never seemed to know how much contraband circulated in the Temple. Once, a group of males her age had had the temerity to start looking at her, snickering and refusing to tell her why. She had bet on the outcome of a lightsaber contest with one of them – permission to copy two days of her physics work for a look at his pictures. She had won.

She had decided that only pre-adolescent stupidity made them want to look at half-naked Twi'lek women, but she had learned on her first mission that people tended to respect her male human master than her for more reasons than age and experience. At least her master was as no-nonsense as Jián was and had a good sense of humor. "This is my apprentice, Jián, the ugliest Twi'lek girl in the galaxy," he would tell people. Or: "This is my apprentice, the no-touch zone." Or her favorite: "This is my apprentice, Jián. Careful, she bites pretty hard."

_This is just like an undercover mission. I can't stand out._ She bowed her head. _I have to…_

_No, no, no! I'm a Jedi! This isn't _right_!_

"Jián?"

Jián spun. The door closed behind Arishe.

"Renhu didn't mean that he approved of the women who dress like that," she said in a gentle voice. "He was just being practical."

"Carry your own messages and you won't have to pass back bite marks as an answer," Jián snarled. "Get out."

"Please," Arishe murmured as she pressed the button. The Human woman backed out the door. Jián watched her go with dangerous satisfaction.

It was easy. It was easy to accept her anger.

But, as Jián liked to tell her apprentices, Jedi didn't do "easy".

_I am the oldest on this ship. I am the only master on this ship. I must be the leader. I must set a good example. Now, more than ever, I need to control myself._

Jián lifted her head, took a few deep breaths, and walked back into the main room.

"I apologize to Renhu and Arishe in particular, but to all of you." Irik looked at her from the floor with hopeful eyes. Vinka's head was down. Kanis sneered. Adan looked concerned. "Renhu and Arishe were trying to help all of us, and my reaction was inexcusably extreme and unfair to them. You all know how much stress all of us are under, but that is still not an excuse to behave as I did."

"Yes, Master," Kanis said in the bored tone that Jián couldn't stand to hear from padawans. Could he read her _mind_?

She chose to ignore him.

"I'd say that's a good enough excuse," Renhu said. "And I forgive you. We _are_ all under stress."

"I understand," said Arishe, but she didn't look at Jián. "I wouldn't – don't – want to dress anything like that, either."

"Well, you don't have to look quite as bad as _I_ do. Renhu, I suppose you'll have to estimate my size and buy me some Twi'lek-appropriate clothing. I don't want to stay in the ship forever."

Silence. Jián looked at the map showing the ship's course.

"This'll be fun," said Kanis.

Jián lifted a hand. The Human boy fell back, just missing enough momentum to roll over entirely. Jián flicked a finger, and he went over. _Oh, good. Look at him!_ "No, Force practice will be fun."

***

It took nearly all their money just to land. And if Renhu hadn't been a good bargainer, they would have had to find somewhere else to land – or return to space.

So Renhu, Adan, and Kanis took the remaining few credits and walked side by side down the landing ramp. Jián sat on her bed and watched them go through the Force. She hated it. She hated them for being able to walk in public. She hated their dignity as they faced the new, dangerous, Jedi-hating world. They were male. She hated them.

The ramp lifted and the ship closed again, splitting their group. Three out there, four hiding inside. All in deadly danger.

_Merrek, what am I going to do? How do we live? How can we be safe? We can't trust anyone but each other. We don't have a home but this ship. We don't have money. We don't have skills for the world to use. We don't know who else is alive. What can we _do?

She meditated for a long time. She didn't want to think about any of this. But she had to. She wanted to slip away from the world. But she wasn't sure how much she trusted Arishe yet, and the two younglings might need her protection in a place like this, even in a locked ship. So she couldn't escape entirely. She kept herself aware, but she shut out the world outside the ship. She couldn't handle that yet.

Panic rushed into her mind at one point. What could she do? What could she DO? She tried to push the feelings away. She had to focus. She could solve the problems when her mind was clear.

She sobbed into her arms, trying to muffle the sound.

***

A scream slashed through the air, and the ship was enveloped in terror. Jián leapt to the other bed, her own fears forgotten in an instant. "Vinka!"

She didn't stop screaming, of course. Jián had put the girl on the bottom bunk this time, but she hadn't fallen. She still lay there. One arm was over her eyes; the other gripped her lightsaber, but she had had the sense not to turn it on.

"Vinka, it's all right. You're safe here," Jián whispered, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Vinka rolled away.

_Blast it, I can't lie. It's too obvious. _Blast_ it. What do I say? What can I say that's true?_

She closed her eyes and let a shiver pass through her, though the ship was actually rather warm. A thousand, million dangers around them, and she had to find some way to comfort a twelve-year-old. The girl's future was in her care. She was the only master available, and she could _not_ let a Jedi padawan fall into the never-ending fear that the galaxy deserved.

_When did it start deserving never-ending fear?_ she wondered, surprised at herself. _Enough. _I'm_ a Jedi, too, and I should _not_ think like that._

There was only one thing she could think of to say. "I'm going to take care of you. I will. I'll protect you. We will – me and Renhu, Arishe, and Adan. And even Kanis and Irik will help. We're here. The seven of us are together. It's just us, but that's something. Something to hold on to. We're alive, and we're Jedi."

Vinka shook her head.

"We _are_."

***

Vinka sat silently, but she allowed Jián to keep her arms around her. Enough for now. Jián was hoping that she could convince the girl to join Arishe and Irik in the main room, to show the boy that things were all right, if for nothing else, but this was enough.

Vinka was the only one who wore her fear on the surface, Jián thought gloomily. She thought Irik was young enough that he could trust the adults. At least, he seemed to feel safe with them. It was probably a Togruta quality – the worst trauma was isolation, and he had people around him. Kanis let his fear out as anger, not that there wasn't anger in all of them, and there would have to be some work to convince him to show his real feelings. Jián wasn't sure what the other adults were feeling, but since she knew she could hide her thoughts, she was sure they could as well. Arishe seemed to have it worst, showing some gloominess, but Adan couldn't be as perfect as he seemed, and Renhu had to have something behind his calm appearance.

Or maybe they weren't afraid, as Jián was. Maybe they were merely angry, or grieving. Maybe Jián was the only one who feared the darkness and danger of a galaxy under dictatorship and a life as a fugitive with children to care for. Maybe she was alone in her concern for the survival of the Order. Maybe the others assumed that it would continue as it had for three thousand years.

Maybe it would. But there were no guarantees, and Jián hoped she wasn't the only one who realized that.

No, no, this line of thought was pointless. The others had sense. They would know.

Maybe she _wanted_ one of the other adults to show real fear.

***

They ate a little after Renhu, Adan, and Kanis had been gone for four hours. None of them seemed to have gotten an appetite yet, and it must have been at least two days since they had last eaten in the Temple. Jián ate because she had to and made sure that the others ate as much as they had to, but her mind was on the ones outside of the ship. She didn't know if she would be able to feel it if they were in danger or even killed… _killed_. She shuddered at the thought.

"Jián?" Irik's small voice asked.

"Yes?" She hoped this one wouldn't be about archaic symbols, but she thought it would probably be _more_ difficult to explain.

"When do you think we can leave the ship?"

She sighed. "Not on this planet. I don't know, really. I don't know when we'll leave or when we'll get to somewhere safer. But I don't want to stay here past getting some supplies. I think I'd like to go to some rural planet next, where there aren't bounty hunters and so forth. But only planets like this are used to groups of offworlders. Maybe I can find a bit of planet without widespread people – so there would be someplace where we could stay a while without meeting anyone. But I don't know where."

"I don't want to be somewhere without people," Irik said quietly.

"I know. But it would be a nice rest."

"We're without other people already."

"But to be able to walk around and breathe fresh air.… It would be so much better than sitting in a ship!" But Jián's words felt heavy in her mouth. Would they never be allowed to trust and interact with people as long as the Jedi were outlaws? Yes, there were seven of them, so they weren't alone, but that would still drive them insane. And they needed to find other Jedi. And allies.

"It'll just be for a little while, and then we'll go someplace with more people, okay?"

"Okay." The youngling paused, then whispered, "Do you think anyone else got out of the Temple like we did?"

There was the difficult question Jián had anticipated. The Temple came back to her mind, and all the bodies… Merrek's body, left there… "I don't know."

"Do you think they could have?"

"Yes, they could have, I'm sure."

"But they didn't?"

Jián shrugged. "We were lucky." And fast. If they had paused, even to carry away a body for honorable burial, they would never have gotten out.

"There's probably someone else," Arishe offered. "They could have gotten away from another direction when the clones were distracted. I'm sure there were others."

Vinka moaned softly and stood up. "No," Jián said quietly. "Stay, Vinka. We need to keep together, and we need to talk about things or they'll just stay in us and infect all our thoughts and feelings."

The girl shook her head and walked to the door of the bedroom.

"Vinka," Jián said more sharply. "Stay with us."

She pressed the button for the door.

"Vinka!" Jián stood. "You are not to disobey me. I am a master, and I am in charge here. I told you to stay, so you _will_."

The girl turned back without a word and slid down next to Arishe again. But she shook, and Jián thought she was crying. Maybe she should have let the girl go. She didn't know. There was too much to deal with that they had never faced before.

"Jián?" asked Irik. "Do you think any of the younglings got out?"

Harder and harder. Tell the truth or give comfort?

They had to trust her.

"No, I think you were the lucky one."

Now, Arishe stood up in anger. "How in the galaxy do you know? None of us have any idea what happened. There could have been another group who got away on a ship after us. We didn't look back at the hanger."

Jián lifted her head, and their eyes met. So there _was_ something other than quietness in this woman. "No, but I honestly think it is not likely that any others came after us. We slipped out when the clones weren't looking. They wouldn't have allowed another mistake. And I will not lie, no matter how kind the lie is."

"We are Jedi. The Force is with us," Arishe insisted.

"That – that doesn't mean that others survived," Jián said. It suddenly occurred to her to wonder how they knew the Force was on their side, but she couldn't say that, not with the younglings there, and not the first moment she thought of it.

Arishe stalked to the bedroom as if she knew Jián's thoughts. Jián almost commanded her to stay, as she had Vinka, but she hesitated a moment too long. Arishe was an adult and a knight, not a lost padawan.

Jián slumped, disappointed in herself, and gathered Irik in her arms for comfort.


	6. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5_

* * *

Renhu and Kanis came back side-by-side and laughing, Adan following with a huge grin. It was hard to resist joining in, but Jián and Vinka managed to keep straight faces without too much trouble.

"All hail Kanis, Sabaac master!" Renhu called, pushing the brown-skinned boy towards Jián. Kanis actually smiled at her. "Who knew? He hadn't even played it before!"

Jián gave in and offered a smile, but she erased it quickly enough. "So what _else_ happened?"

Renhu's smile disappeared as well. "All right." He dropped the bag he was carrying and sat on one of the chairs. "Well, things are… The holonews was on everywhere, and everyone was talking about the Jedi and the Empire."

"Tell us about it."

They all sat on the floor or chairs and watched the Zabrak expectantly, even Kanis and Adan. "There was debate, which I think is hopeful. Half the people thought the holonets were lying about what had happened. They didn't believe the Jedi would revolt. I even heard someone say it was more likely that the _Republic_ had betrayed the _Jedi_. And most of them didn't like the idea of an Empire." He sighed and added softly, "I think they relied on the Senate's disorganization to do the things they did."

That idea felt like being pinned to the ground in a practice duel. It wasn't only defeat – a touch to the neck would do that – but humiliating defeat. The Republic – _their_ Republic – had actually _allowed_ crime. People had actually _needed_ that sort of government to…

_Force, why can't I say that isn't true? Why does it have to be true?_

"Several were even upset about the end of the Jedi, believe it or not!" Renhu added. "I think they realize that the next lawmakers won't be afraid of ysalamiri, so Myrkr won't be a safe haven for them. Twisted, I know. Everything is all twisted."

"It has been for a while," Jián heard herself say from far away. She wanted to get away from this. Erase it all. Turn it back into the darkness of empty space around their small ship. "I don't think anyone but Master Yoda remembers the Republic when it did what it was supposed to do."

"Master Kaari!" Arishe sounded insulted. "We did our best. Do you _prefer_ having an emperor over us? Is that going to make things better?"

Jián would have glared at her, but she wasn't sure she could do that very well from this strange distance. "Don't be ridiculous. Two things can both be bad. Just because the Republic didn't function doesn't mean that the Empire automatically will, and I didn't say it would."

"I might agree with Jián," Renhu said. "We lost our way long ago."

Jián was brought back to her body by the Force's alert that Vinka was trying to escape the conversation again. She hesitated. This wasn't something younglings should have to hear, but Vinka wasn't so young any more. It would be worse to let her escape or send Irik, who was holding Arishe's hand, away. Let them hear. They would hear worse.

"Vinka, sit down. What else? What did you see on the holonews?"

"It was mostly about how terrible the Jedi are. That we wanted control over the Republic and so forth."

"And people _believed_ this?" Jián whispered. "We're the last people who would want control! It's the… I can't even _begin_ to correct all the things that are wrong with that!"

"You'd think people would have known that politicians are less trustworthy than we are," Adan said gloomily. "Just shows that they're better at mind tricks."

Jián groaned at the idea.

"They've mentioned the Temple's invasion, but they didn't say what happened to the younglings or anything."

Jián shook her head. They hadn't gone that far into trusting the public, at least. She could _hope_, at least, that there would be protest over that. Everyone knew that their younglings stayed in the Temple, and surely someone would want to find out what had happened. Surely someone would find out what had been done, and there _had_ to be protest if it was known.

But that required freedom of information. The holonews would certainly be censored.

Hope. There had to be something hopeful.

_We're still alive._

That wasn't much.

All right…

"Anything else? News about who's dead?" Jián felt herself floating away from her body again, and she was impressed that her voice didn't quiver at all.

"They've listed most of the Council by now. They haven't mentioned Master Yoda yet."

"He'll live," Arishe declared.

"He probably will," Jián agreed. "He won't live forever, but _this_ won't kill him. He's too smart."

"Yeah!" Irik agreed, grinning, looking his age for once.

"They said Anakin Skywalker was killed," said Kanis. "Even _he_ failed."

_Even he's gone._ Jián lifted her shoulders. "We were very lucky."

"Anyway…" Renhu began. "Kanis _is_ an excellent Sabaac player, somehow. So we got money. And –" He smiled slightly. "I think you might like this, Master."

He opened for the first time the bag he had brought. He held something out to Jián.

She frowned. It was a _blaster_.

"It was secondhand, but it doesn't look very used. We can't wear our lightsabers openly, so I figured we'd need acceptable weapons to let people know we're not easy. This is for you. You get the first one."

He looked at her, his eyes asking. She nodded without changing her expression and took the blaster. "Thank you."

Her voice did shake slightly. A Jedi using a blaster? It wasn't right.

"It's not a bad weapon," Adan said. "Only a lightsaber is really good against it, and lightsabers won't be _our_ problem."

Jián winced at the idea, then shuddered. It was the worst thing she could think of. Having to fight lightsabers. No matter how she looked at it, it was terrible.

"And…" Renhu looked more cautious. "Here."

He gave her a small plastic bag.

"Clothes," Jián stated.

He nodded.

Jián looked at the bag for a long moment.

"All right."

She took a deep breath.

"All right," she said more steadily.

She put the bag to her side and looked back at Renhu. "Anything else?"

"Not really." He was looking at the bag nervously.

"I'll go out tomorrow, then. Arishe? Do you want to come this time? I'm sure Adan or Renhu could stay."

"I'll stay," the Human woman said. "I don't think I want to go out _there_."

Jián nodded, but she didn't like the fear in the knight's voice.

"Well, then, it'll be the four of us?" Renhu asked.

"Why will we say Jián wasn't originally with us?" asked Adan.

"We met yesterday," Renhu suggested.

"Too easy to see through," Jián argued. "I mean, we're on the ship together. Is there any way we can admit to that?"

Renhu shrugged. "We'll tell them that you went somewhere else yesterday."

"Where?"

"Can't we figure this out later?" The knight almost sounded annoyed.

"We all have to know before we go out again."

He sighed and looked more relaxed. "We'll know. I promise."

Well, it seemed that Renhu Tam had a good way to calm himself down. Jián felt that he actually had been angry and afraid for a moment – that he had been hiding it since they had left the Temple. Even she might have something to learn from him. Very good.

"All right, I'll let you think about it," Jián said and picked up the bag. Her mind was teasing her – she felt like the bag was contaminated or something.

This was going too far. They were just clothes. Jedi had to be comfortable with their bodies. Jedi shouldn't mind what they looked like.

But other people would mind, and Jedi could mind what other people thought of them.

Jián sighed, shrugged, and went to the females' room. She pulled the clothes out of the bag. If they could be called clothes. They wouldn't cover much of her.

She rested her arm on the upper bunk and her head on her arm.

Force.

This wasn't right.

This wasn't right at all.

_We're getting ready for a long life as outlaws, aren't we? Have we already given up on finding other Jedi? On finding some other way to live?_

_Merrek, this isn't right. I'm a Jedi. I shouldn't be in this position. I shouldn't be on this planet at all, and I shouldn't have to wear these clothes, and I shouldn't have to run away and be afraid for my life, and not my mission, if anyone finds out who I am._

_Oh, Merrek, I wish you were still alive, and Master Windu, and I wish Master Yoda were here, and the war hadn't even started…_

* * *

They ate very little breakfast. Jián usually didn't get sick to her stomach, but she didn't want to take the chance. Besides, they didn't have that much food. Still, Renhu wanted to bring food with them, in case they couldn't find any place that looked clean enough to eat in.

Dear Force. She was really doing this.

They practiced their story: she had been trying to repair something in the ship and hadn't wanted to try to find them when the problem was fixed. She wasn't bad at mechanics, so they shouldn't see through that lie too quickly. She repeated their fake names to herself. They worried that someone had given out names of Jedi and they might be caught for using their real ones.

Jián told them they could still call her Jián. That name never appeared in the Jedi archives, except maybe in records of what people had said, since everyone called her that. In archives, she was either identified by her Twi'lek name, Jianeka'ari, or her legal name, Jiane Kaari. So only a Jedi traitor should recognize her real name.

Force forbid that there would be any.

She just hoped that the way she walked didn't scream _Jedi_. She tried walking around the ship in her new clothes for practice, but that didn't work. She just felt more awkward with people she _knew_ watching her, especially since one was only nine years old. At least Vinka couldn't see her, but she probably sensed Jián's discomfort even more than the others did.

Jián recited the names to herself in between talking to Irik and Vinka. She didn't want them worrying while she was gone. Yes, there was plenty to worry about, but they had enough to deal with in the first place. They did _not_ need to feel any worse, either of them.

She reminded them of the ways of the Jedi and encouraged them to meditate and practice using the Force – as long as they weren't near windows – while she was gone. She told them it was just like any undercover mission and that they had to be patient and wait for their time to leave the ship.

Inside, she wasn't sure if she would be back or if they would be safe. She hoped Arishe was prepared to defend them, preferably without drawing her lightsaber, but she didn't know. She couldn't be sure of anything.

_Okay, _I_ need some calming down,_ she admitted. But she didn't have time to meditate. She would have to deal with it as she faced Myrkr.

Nothing was making her feel better. She talked nonstop to Merrek in her head, through the name-chanting, through the pep talks for the padawans, through the wishes that she could calm down.

Jián was supposed to be the oldest, the most experienced, and the best-taught in Jedi ways. So she could keep herself under control, couldn't she?

_I can. I can. I'm going to be strong out there._

"Don't let them see you get too angry if they seem like they're appreciating your body," Renhu said as they went over plans yet again. "Some men like a challenge, and it would just make them more interested."

"And you would know _how_?" Jián snarled.

Renhu looked away, probably to hide an annoyed expression. "I _pay attention_. Would you please stop jumping on me about these things? It's not my fault. I'm not like that."

"He's right," said Adan. "But of course you're nervous. Even the Council members can get irritable when they're scared – I _know_ they have to get scared."

"I'm not sure," said Kanis, playing along. "I think they're gods."

Jián could already tell that Adan was always going to be the peacemaker and the voice of logic, reason, and wisdom. Blast it. But at least Kanis wasn't being as bad as he had been at the beginning. Something about Sabaac had helped, or maybe it was just getting to be in the company of other people.

Renhu continued with his advice until Kanis, surprisingly perceptive, asked, "Wouldn't it be better for our nerves just to go out there?"

"Not mine," said Renhu and continued his thought without pause.

"I think it might help mine," said Jián weakly. "I think I know everything I can possibly remember. Let's just… do it."

Renhu shrugged. "If you insist. Five minutes to wash up."

"I'll time you," said Jián.

"_I'll_ time him. You can do whatever you need to do," Arishe offered.

"All right."

So Jián stood at her bunk bed another time and tried to figure out what was going to happen to her – to all seven of them – to the Jedi Order – to the galaxy.

Too much.


	7. Chapter 6

_I meant to update this two days ago, but the site refused to let me upload any documents at all._

_Thanks to TheMacUnleashed, pronker, and G-Anakin13 for reviewing!_

_If you read "On Jedi and Alcohol", you will understand Jián's disapproval._

_***_

_Chapter 6_

Renhu led them, with Jián just behind him. She stood at her full height and tried to look intimidating. Nobody should doubt that she was powerful and at home here.

At home?

Renhu took them to a different place than they had gone the day before. He had explained that it would make them safer. It would be less likely that anyone who had seen them the day before would be around.

It wasn't much comfort, for Jián. But it would help if she didn't have to tell her lie about having had to mend the ship. An entirely weak lie.

Renhu wanted to buy drinks. Jián raised an eyebrow at him. Weren't they in enough danger already?

"One won't hurt," he answered her look.

"_One_ won't. Just make sure you don't get carried away."

"I won't," he said, looking down humbly.

Jián wondered whether that was supposed to be part of keeping her safe or whether he really was putting himself below her. Well, he _was_ below her, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted him to act like it. She wasn't sure she _liked_ being the highest – except when they were arguing.

No, she would keep it this way.

She checked her posture again, keeping her head high. _I am strong, and I am not afraid._

Kanis got into a Sabaac game with a few males of various species – Jián thought they were all male, at least – before Renhu was even done buying the drinks. Jián stayed next to him, not trusting him, not trusting the others. Kanis couldn't be cheated, but people could try to fight him – and that could end up disastrous if he had to show his Jedi skills. Better if everyone knew that Kanis wasn't alone.

That was, provided Jián didn't look like someone who would easily be defeated. But she never had looked like that before, so why start now, even if she did have a blaster instead of a lightsaber?

In fact, wouldn't some people respect a blaster more?

Jián glanced around the room, judging the weapons carried as quickly as possible. She knew how to do _that_ well. She could see a moderate number, but most of them looked old and well-used. Adan slid into a chair and took a more relaxed posture. Renhu returned, passed the glasses around, and sat watching the game.

Jián put her glass on the table and stayed standing, trying to follow the moves and see what would be the best thing for Kanis to do. He apparently had a skill for the game that she didn't, because she couldn't figure out what was happening.

_Who would have imagined I'd regret not having learned to play Sabaac? _she wondered. _Weird huh –_

She couldn't think her old apprentice's name. It felt too dangerous, here.

"No holonet, huh?" asked Renhu.

Jián had almost forgotten about the holonet, but now she looked around and saw that there weren't any projectors in the place. She didn't know whether she wanted to see the news programs or not, but she knew it was important that they did.

"Nope," said a Rodian with a badly scarred face, not looking away from the game.

"Any news since yesterday? I haven't been able to check."

"Who cares? Just all sorts of politics," snarled a Duros.

"Jedi rebelled, the army's dealing with it, some senators got killed like they deserve, some Human says he's the emperor. Same as yesterday," elaborated a tall humanoid Jián couldn't identify.

"Know which senators?" asked Renhu, leaning forward slightly.

"Nope."

"We'll have to go somewhere else after this game," he decided. "It's no good not to know what's going on in the galaxy."

"You just don't want me to beat the same person too many times," Kanis boasted.

"Watch it, kid," the Rodian warned. "You don't got any right to brag yet."

"_You_ watch it," Jián said in a quietly dangerous tone.

"Who're you?" he asked, looking up finally.

Jián just looked at him coolly.

"She's Jián," said Renhu as if that told everything.

***

There was no choice for them when Kanis won the game. They had to leave.

"Someone ought'a teach you manners," the formerly-friendly humanoid growled. "Strangers don't beat the reg'lars."

Jián nodded at Renhu to collect the money. Adan stood for the first time since they had come and stepped near Jián and Kanis.

"He won," Jián stated. "He won't stay for another game. But he won, and we're taking our money."

The man stood.

Jián put a hand on her blaster and looked at him, feeling Adan and Kanis glaring at him as threateningly. They were outnumbered, counting the entire group Kanis had beaten, but Jián knew it would be a good bet that the others weren't ready for a fight over this game.

The man sat down.

Renhu returned. The four of them turned together and walked out. Nobody tried to stop them.

***

"Well, we've made some enemies," commented Renhu. "Nobody wants to be seen giving in to a Twi'lek woman and two young Humans."

"So we won't go back there," Kanis said lightly. He was still high on the thrill of winning and staring down the losers.

Jián suddenly realized that nobody had said anything about her body. She couldn't resist grinning. She _had_ done that right.

"Let's hope we don't do that everywhere we go."

Jián almost laughed, but she didn't want to admit that it had almost been enjoyable. No. That wasn't right for a Jedi.

"We'll have to find a more permanent way to get money, anyway," Adan pointed out.

"True." Renhu looked through a door, checking for holonet projectors. That would mean a wealthier clientele, too – as wealthy as they came in these parts – which might mean they wouldn't mind losing as much. Either that or the stakes would be higher, but that would be worth the extra danger.

Renhu chose his bar. He bought Jián and Kanis drinks, since they hadn't had their last ones and it looked better, according to him, to spend some money at the bar before winning.

Kanis found his way into another Sabaac game, and Jián found herself trying to look intimidating enough to avoid confrontation while listening to the horrifying news on the holonets.

Now, they were counting Master Yoda among the dead, along with Anakin Skywalker and all the other famous Jedi besides Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Jián couldn't believe it. She didn't.

Everyone who spoke, in reports or interviews, seemed entirely calm. And most of them were happy about the change, or at least swore that they would follow the Empire because it couldn't be worse than the corrupt Republic or bloody war.

Propaganda, all of it.

They listed Padmé Amadala as dead, as well, but they did not admit assassination. They said that the details of her death had not been released, but it seemed to have been a medical problem.

Jián didn't believe _that_. But she couldn't help believing that Senator Amadala was dead.

She had been their hope in the Senate. She had done so much for them. And it seemed that others with her beliefs had gone with her, a few by assassination that even the holonets would admit to.

At least Bail Organa and Mon Mothma weren't dead, not according to the holonets, not yet.

"He-ey," said a fuzzy-sounding voice behind Jián.

She spun around, understanding what that one word meant. It was, not surprisingly, from an obviously drunk Human male.

A glare wouldn't work. He was too drunk for that.

"What do you want?" she asked in a dangerous voice.

"You know what I want," the Human answered.

"I don't play that game."

The Human laughed weakly.

Since he wasn't worth much effort to talk him out of his thoughts, Jián grabbed his arm by the shoulder and threw him on the ground. He gasped in shock and pain when he hit it. Jián turned away and wiped her hand on available clothing, as if she was too disgusted by him to stand having touched his shirt. But her instinct was more to wipe away her needless violence.

She could have told him to get away. She didn't have to do that.

She felt the eyes on her, but she sighed, shook the thoughts from her mind, and turned back to Kanis.

***

Kanis wasn't chased out of bar one after one game, though he _did_ win more money than he had the last time. His opponents wanted to have another chance to beat him, it seemed.

"He must be cheating," said a Zabrak player with a heavily tattooed face. Jián wondered if the tattoos would tell Renhu anything – had Renhu learned such things? "He's not even an adult! Just a little Human kid!"

"I am _not_ a kid," Kanis protested.

"Kids don't win, so he is not a kid," Adan added.

"Shame we can't bring any ysalamiri here," added a Human player. "The best games are played out in the forest with them to keep people from cheating."

"Go buy some Miriskin," suggested another. "It's as likely to work as people who cheat with the Force are likely to come here." They all laughed, because anyone who would buy ysalamiri skin – especially from dealers who weren't even trustworthy to have real ysalamiri skin for sale – to try to ward off Force-influence was not very smart.

But at least they didn't believe that Kanis could be using the Force. And at least there was no chance of ysalamiri coming to the city.

The talk turned back to the news, as it had been for most of their time there. As Renhu had said, most of them were indifferent or sorry that the Jedi were gone. One person vocally supported the Empire, but none of the others would come to his side. Most of them argued over it, reminding him that government was government and no government in the history of the universe was going to help his starving family.

Jián listened to that conversation with a mix of sorrow and anger that even she couldn't understand.

_Nothing is going to be right, ever again,_ she couldn't help thinking.

***

They collected the winnings from Kanis' third game and took a moment to buy something to eat. They would have to go back to the ship soon. Jián hoped nothing had happened back there and Vinka was all right. She spared a moment of concentrating on Kanis, their money, the holonets, and the conversation to try to remember what should be done for a twelve-year-old with posttraumatic stress. She would have to deal with it sometime, and it was more important than their money.

Maybe. They did have to have money for food and water and fuel.

But Vinka was a person, and a Jedi.

A dark, grating voice interrupted her. "Jián, they call you?"

"Yes." She turned to see a hooded humanoid, his face shadowed.

"What do you do?" he asked.

"Anything but dance," she answered spontaneously.

"I saw that," he admitted, adding what might have been a hoarse laugh. "Want a job?"

Jián stopped breathing for a moment. Did she want to get into this yet? Was she going to become a bounty hunter, one of the people that she had once fought to keep peace and justice in the galaxy?

"I don't know," she said. "Depends on the job."

***

_P.S. The nature of the job doesn't matter. It's probably very small smuggling. It wouldn't be smuggling, kidnapping, or saving people or anything so exciting, since Jián has no history._


	8. Chapter 7

_Thanks to TheMacUnleashed, Torli, and pronker for reviewing!_

_Just a comment: the same ceremony is done here as was done in my story _Friends, Younglings, and Masters_ and my roleplay._

_***_

_Chapter 7_

The salesbeings had no chance against Renhu and Jián together. The bargaining went very well for the Jedi. They bought food, lots of water, fuel, and what clothes they could. They still had some money left over. Kanis had done well, but they would need more money soon.

That was where Jián's "job" came in.

It made her sick to think of it. She knew it was against the law, and being caught by whoever the Emperor was using for a lawkeeper would be the worst thing possible for them. But she also knew that the Emperor probably didn't have lawkeepers – the Jedi weren't part of his plan, the police might not be willing to give someone to them, and the clones couldn't be retrained that quickly. So she was safe for now.

For now.

What would happen in a month? A year?

What would happen to them?

How could they ever find a way again? A home? How could they ever find a Temple again?

She thought about it as she went back to the ship, relaxed, covered her body, and explained to Arishe, Vinka, Irik, and the droid where they were going and what they had to find there.

How could they find other Jedi?

How could they rid themselves of the poison of war and their few days alone?

Where could they ever go?

What would happen to the galaxy? What could they do to light or strengthen the fires?

***

Myrkr turned to a blue, green, and white circle below them. They were leaving that terrible place, but they would never rid themselves of the part they were taking with them.

Myrkr, the place that no Jedi would venture to, had been their haven when they needed help.

Myrkr.

It was all wrong.

"Well," said Jián aloud. "We're free again."

Nobody answered her.

***

"We have to assume that we won't be able to find any of the other masters any time soon," Jián told Renhu, Arishe, and Adan. "That's not to say that we stop trying. We have to try to find some more legal ways to make money, but I don't expect to find any. We can search, but it's a disaster out there, and I'm afraid of what might happen if we try to contact other Jedi."

Renhu looked at the map without focusing on it.

"There's still hope," said Arishe quietly.

"Hope, oh, yes," said Jián, though she couldn't say that she took much from it. "There must be other Jedi alive – it's crazy to think we're the only one. There's the possibility of rebellion. People won't just accept this. Democracy can't leave without a fight. Nothing can put out those fires. Nothing any empire can do."

"Let's hope," said Renhu, not looking away from the point somewhere beyond the map.

_Let's hope that it's true or let's keep hoping?_

"I think we should hope that we can fit things together sometime," Jián said, though the words felt bitter in her mouth. "I think we have to stay Jedi."

"Of course," said Adan.

"Of course," echoed Arishe.

Renhu slowly nodded.

"So, I think we need to train the younger ones," Jián said finally.

"Yes," Adan agreed, but he didn't sound enthusiastic.

"Can we?" asked Arishe quietly.

Renhu didn't respond.

Was it the lack of a planet below them that did this to them? Jián sat up straight. "Enough of this!" she snapped. "Listen to me! We're not giving up, even if we don't think we can find other Jedi soon. We can make ourselves Jedi! We _can_ train the younglings. We _can_ make a life for ourselves until we can find some way to fight."

"I can fight no more," whispered Renhu.

"Well, I can," Jián countered. "And you will, for the children."

"I cannot. I could not at the Temple. I cannot for another."

"No," Jián insisted. "Don't start this. You're a Jedi knight. You move on and try to fix the next thing."

Renhu turned to her with fury in his face. "I lost my padawan!" he told her in a shout held to a whisper to keep from disturbing Vinka and Irik or making Kanis curious. "The Jedi Temple fell while I escaped! How can I train a padawan? How can I teach any younglings knowing that?"

Jián stepped towards him and looked him in the eye. "You do it so you can find your way and your worth again."

He looked at her for a long time, his black eyes showing nothing.

"What do you think we should do, then?" he asked at last.

Jián slid into a seat. "Okay. I think that we should take all three of them as padawans. Irik may be too young, but only by two years, and he'll need someone to help him through this. Since I'm the only master and there's always a chance that the Order will come back together, you three should probably each take one. Of course, I would take one if you wanted me to, but I want you to have a chance to become masters. I just don't want Kanis, whatever happens. Though I might be good for him." She grinned at the thought. "I don't really have solid ideas about who should take who, but I guess Arishe should probably take Vinka."

Arishe shook her head. "I don't want another padawan – I never thought I'd be good with one, and I only took one at all because she was who she was. None of these are her."

Jián wondered what that meant. Why hadn't she said her padawan's name? How many ways were there to avoid discussing what had happened? "Nobody?" she asked.

"No. I don't want one," Arishe repeated.

Jián nodded, but now it was necessary that Renhu agreed, and he seemed unlikely to do so. "So what about you?" she asked Adan, who would hopefully be easier.

Adan shrugged and looked embarrassed. "I hadn't thought of taking a padawan yet – I hadn't thought clearly, anyway. I definitely didn't think it would be like this. I thought I'd have a lot of choices, and choose the normal way, but – which do you think –"

Jián shook her head. "You choose. It's your apprentice."

"Well, I'm only eighteen, and Kanis is fourteen, so there could be a real problem if I was his master. But I know you don't want him…" He looked at her with worried eyes.

"I'll take him," said Renhu. "We get along, anyway."

He stood up and went to the males' room.

"Okay," said Jián, trying to smile at Adan without looking more frightening. "Vinka or Irik?"

"Well, Irik is pretty young, and he should have a lot more training, and I don't know if I can fill that…"

"We can help you with that," Jián said. "I don't think any one person can train a youngling before they're old enough to be a padawan. There's too much to learn."

Adan nodded. "See, I don't think I can help Vinka, either. I'd just feel sorry for her."

"Then I'll take Vinka, unless Arishe changes her mind."

"Take her," said Arishe dully, and she left for the females' room.

Jián looked at Adan. Suddenly, Adan started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jián asked.

"I don't know!" Adan sobbed through his laughter.

"So we're having another ceremony?" asked Kanis from the door of his room. "A lot of ceremonies considering we don't have a Council."

"Yes, we do," Jián said. "It's me, Renhu, and Arishe. Adan hasn't been a knight long enough. Come on. It's time to make up a new ceremony. Want to go first, Kanis?"

***

Jián didn't know the stories of the people she was sharing the hardest time of her life with, so she couldn't do the ceremony properly, briefly describing the history of each initiate and master. She just had to make do with what was happening to them at the time.

"Kneel, Kanis," she repeated, still busily working out her speech in her mind. How did Masters Yoda and Windu do this? Did they write it down beforehand or make it up as they went along?

"Kneel," Renhu commanded. And Kanis knelt.

Jián took a deep breath. The other five of them stood in a circle around the two of them, but she was the one who had to do the work.

"Kanis Skrit, Jedi Padawan," she began, though she was still unsure of what she would say. "You have grown up in one of the most difficult times since the creation of the Republic…"

Both Kanis and Renhu looked pained as they reached to each other in the Force to create the bond that padawans and masters were supposed to have. Jián wondered whether that was normal – had she ever looked that way? Or was it their natures? Or was it the situation they were bonding in? Or, worst of all, was something different about the Force now?

"Master and padawan," said Jián with the terrible feeling of stealing Master Yoda's place, though the words may not have been in the same order. "You may rise."

And they did.

And Kanis would never have a padawan braid and Master Yoda would never have a chance to give them a real ceremony…

She pulled herself back to the things she could do.

"Adan, Irik, kneel," she said.

Adan led Irik by the hand to the designated ceremony spot while Renhu and Kanis took their places in the circle of five.

"Irik Li," Jián began, fighting back the urge to cry. _Oh, Irik._

Adan watched her expectantly. Irik's small face was turned towards Adan's. They were ready.

"Jedi Initiate. You have grown up in one of the most difficult times for the Jedi Order since the creation of the Republic. You have been taught by some of the great masters, but you survived what they might not have – you are one of the last survivors of our younglings." No, this was too depressing. "You are our hope in these times: an initiate, a padawan, trained in these times, trained _for_ these times as we were not." She swallowed. "Are you prepared to take Adan Hanijki as your master?"

Irik nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Say that you are prepared," whispered Arishe.

"I am prepared," whispered Irik.

"Say that you are honored that he chose you."

"I am honored that Knight Hanijki chose me."

Jián didn't wince, but she wanted to. How could that part of the ceremony count? Adan hadn't had much choice in the matter.

"Say that you will learn what he teaches you and obey when possible."

"I will learn what Knight Hanijki teaches me, and I'll obey him when possible," he said, obeying _her_ without thought.

"Good," said Jián. "Adan Hanijki, Jedi Knight."

She continued with an approximation of his courage, self-control, and obedience to the Jedi Code as she saw it. He was the best Jedi on the ship, as far as she knew, but she didn't say that.

Their bonding did not look so difficult. Adan's expression was one of kindness and Irik's of focus. That lifted Jián's spirits. There _was_ hope.

Then, it was her turn with Vinka.

Renhu took her place. Jián and Vinka knelt, facing each other. As they settled into their places, Vinka pulled off her scarves to show her blank, white eyes.

Her eyes filled with tears.

She sniffed and hunched over.

"This is the right thing to do," Jián whispered.

The young Miraluka shook her head and caught her breath in an almost-sob.

"Vinka Sirini," began Renhu in a soft voice. "Jedi Padawan. You may be new to serving the galaxy as a Jedi padawan, but you have seen more terrible things than most Jedi. You have lost your first master after only months together, and you have survived the most terrible action against us in our history."

Vinka shivered and sobbed quietly. Jián held one of her hands, but she also remembered…

"But now is the time to move forward, to take another master, and to find hope."

Vinka was crying outright by the end of the sentence, and Jián could hardly keep from joining her. Renhu's words were better than ones she could have thought of, but they were unbearable.

"Are you prepared to take Jedi Master Jiane Kaari as your master and teacher?"

Jián held her breath in the silence after Renhu's speech. _Say yes, Vinka. Please say yes. You _have_ to say yes._

It took all her will to stop herself from breathing, but still she waited, as her throat struggled to find air, as the others waited with silence nearly as difficult to bear, as Vinka searched for her decision.

"Yes," Vinka whispered at last, almost too quietly for Jián to hear.

Jián drew in what felt like all the air in the ship.

Nobody asked for more from the girl.

"Jianeka'ari," said Renhu, remembering her Twi'lek name, the one she never used because of her separation from other Twi'lek. "Jedi Master, our master. You have also survived, and you have found it in you to lead us, keep us to the Code, and create a path of light in the darkness."

Jián closed her eyes.

_Is that really me? Is that what I've done? _she wondered.

"You have trained many padawans and lost as many, but you tell us we must move on and that we will find a way with you. You will keep the Jedi Order alive in us as long as we live. Do you now take Vinka Sirini as your padawan to teach the ways of the Jedi Order?"

"Vinka," Jián told the sobbing girl, "I am prepared to take you as my padawan and lead you until you reach the time for knighthood. I will protect you as I can and help you to find your way in this galaxy."

Jián waited, unwilling to bond with the girl while she cried. It seemed like bad luck.

Vinka lifted her head and looked at Jián through blind eyes filled with tears. She also hesitated.

They reached to each other at the same time and met in the middle, sensing each other's presence in the Force.

Jián pulled Vinka into her arms instinctively and hugged her in reality and the Force.

"Master and padawan," said Renhu.

And they were.

***

Jián stared into the nothingness outside of the window of the _Candle_. So they were masters and padawans in secret, bounty hunters in public.

But they were Jedi and always would be, until the day the _Candle_ would be taken and their flames would be blown out.

Just seven Jedi and one droid in an old starship, but while their lives burned, they would search for fires to light so the Jedi would not be lost, with them, to the endless darkness.

* * *

_This is the last chapter I have written, and I managed to make it a good ending, but I hate stopping here when I know there is more to tell. I'll do my best to update some more chapters, so I'd appreciate it if you would keep me on story alert._

_Thank you to everyone who read._


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